New director named for Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum

Eileen Mackevich, named Friday as the new director of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, said her main goals will be raising money, attracting more international interest and making the museum more interactive.

By PETE SHERMAN

The State Journal-Register

By PETE SHERMAN

Posted Dec. 3, 2010 at 12:01 AM
Updated Dec 3, 2010 at 2:23 AM

By PETE SHERMAN

Posted Dec. 3, 2010 at 12:01 AM
Updated Dec 3, 2010 at 2:23 AM

Eileen Mackevich, named Friday as the new director of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, said her main goals will be raising money, attracting more international interest and making the museum more interactive.

The appointment of Mackevich, the former executive director of the national Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, was announced Friday in a news release from Gov. Pat Quinn.

Visiting the presidential museum, she said, is an “extraordinary experience.”

“The museum is well-tended and loved by an excellent staff,” Mackevich said.

However she added, “There are lots of opportunities, with technology being what it is, for people to explore their opinions, ideas and attitudes … with the material.

Mackevich, 71, will start her new job the last week of December. She is a long-time Chicago resident, but said she plans to look for an apartment or townhouse in Springfield next week.

She will be paid $150,000 a year, minus 24 mandated furlough days due to state budget cuts, said library and museum spokesman Dave Blanchette.

Mackevich replaces Jan Grimes, director of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. Grimes had been filling in as interim director of the library and museum after the previous director, Rick Beard, was fired in October 2008.

Beard lost his job after he was charged with shoplifting in Springfield stores. He later pleaded guilty.

“Having a director is vital to the library and museum because, in these tough fiscal times, it’s important we have someone whose full time job is forming partnerships and seeking innovating financial solutions for this facility,” Blanchette said.

IHPA trustees unanimously selected Mackevich from among “several nationally-renowned historians and museum professionals,” according to the news release.

In addition to serving as executive director of the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial, Mackevich co-founded the Chicago Humanities Festival and spent nearly two decades as a broadcast journalist and talk show host on Chicago public radio.